The present invention generally relates to devices for handling printing plates, and in particular, to a device for conveying flexible printing plates following their manufacture.
State of the art conveying devices generally include a container having a drive mechanism which runs along profiled rails to draw the printing plates along their desired path. The container is manually loaded with printing plates, which are in turn programmed to reach their objective automatically. Upon reaching this objective, the plates are then removed from the container manually. However, since such printing plates tend to accumulate irregularly, and since such printing operations are frequently carried out at night, manual operation of the conveying device becomes rather costly. What is more, sensitive printing plates, especially so-called "flexo plates" made of plastic, tend to require especially careful treatment, and such state of the art devices often failed to guarantee this.
Also known are belt conveyors having boxes which travel on a belt and along their desired path. However, since such devices are also manually loaded and unloaded with printing plates, the above-mentioned difficulties are again presented.